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The 2325 League Presidential Election
The 2325 Presidential Election was a major political election in The League. Background President of the League Elle Shockley surprised the political establishment of the League in 2324 that she would stand down in 2325, calling for a Presidential election. Her "caretaker" administration would then be replaced by the newly elected President. The League, a new polity that had formed out of the ashes of the old Confederate Union, was stable but its scope was still being discussed. The major issues the candidates would face would be: * Reunification: should the League merge with the Hansa? And if so, how? * War Crimes: should the leadership of the Provisional Government face criminal sanctions? * The Corporations: had they become too powerful and too influential? * OMDA: OMDA's miltia is now largely disbanded but was it too dangerous? Candidates The official laws of the Confederate Union on Presidential elections still applied. Therefore to become a candidate, a citizen only needed a clean criminal record, to be over 30 years old and to have the signatures of at least 50,000 registered voters (including at least 10,000 from the world that they currently reside on). In 2324 more than fifty different candidates began to be discussed and many sought to get the required number of signatures to stand. There was a concern that every single member world would have a candidate and that some might have several. However despite nearly thirty candidates being eligible for the early balloting, their lack of support with fund-raising, media and polling meant that they were not really viable and the field gradually narrowed down to twelve: # Governor Rust Collingwood of the St Lawrence colony # Governor Pierce Colby of the Fort Darwin colony # Former Governor of Mars, Kit Rykker # OMDA spokesman Cole Berenhault # Artrim Vise, the former CEO of Esprit du Nacional # Dr Valerie Oxford, Chancellor of Weller-Banks University # Senator Benyamin "Ben" Herron from Earth # Former Governor of Al Ahily Ricardo Swann # Retired Marine General Miles Behan of Earth # Governor Barra Lloyd of the Lighting Point Colony # Journalist Hillier Murrow # Lecturer Dr Saul Pietersen The early polls showed Governor Collingwood with the highest support. Governor Colby and Governor Rykker was also seen as having a decent chance. The Early Contest The twelve candidates met with the Executive committee and began to be seriously vetted by the public, the executive committee and the media. Very quickly Dr Pietersen was found to be totally out of his depth and his questionable record of mental health saw him go from 1% support to 0%. Governor Colby did well with his fellow Governors as well as the public. The young, charismatic Governor was criticized by some for a lack of depth but he had poise. The surprise success was Dr Valerie Oxford, whose liberal reformer platform found support from the people and from the Executive committee. She even found support among the military as Admiral Valane supported her openly, whilst the powerful De Bruyne family were also seen to support her. Governor Collingwood was popular with the Governors and the people. However he was seen as lacking conviction. Artrim Vise's well funded campaign never seemed to find any traction with the electorate or the executive committee and he withdrew before the early ballots were cast. The early ballots were cast on the colonies, though these would be non-binding. Dr Oxford shocked the political class by winning more than 50% of the vote, with Governor's Colby and Collingwood coming behind her with around 25% and 15% of the vote. The other candidates came away in single digits. The Executive Committee took meetings and the field narrowed down to two. The Final Two Governor Pierce Colby and Dr Valerie Oxford's names went into the formal ballots and the two were given two weeks to campaign before a debate and then the election itself. Governor Colby announced that Jovian belt attorney general Altus Kinnick would be his running mate. A relative unknown but with a good reputation as a crime fighting lawyer, Kinnick was seen as an intriguing figure for the campaign. Dr Oxford stated she would not campaign with nominee for VP. She stated that, if elected President, she would allow the Senate to choose her Vice President. This novel approach was lauded by some whilst conservative decried it as contrary and impractical. Governor Colby ran a traditional campaign, with lots of big rallies and he did a whistle stop tour of the inner-worlds and Earth. He appealed to federalists but also the colonials that he spoke for them. His campaign was seen as organized, slick but lacking in substance. Dr Oxford, a political neonate, ran a fiery campaign full of big sweeping policy speeches. Her crusading speeches against the big corporations were very popular. Most polls showed her running around 25% or more ahead of Governor Colby, though most expected the polls to narrow. Dr Oxford made a few gaffes whilst on the road but these didn't affect her numbers. The debate was a muted affair, with the two agreeing on a large number of issues. Dr Oxford refused to target Governor Colby's youth. Governor Colby tried to talk up his relative political experience. Most pundits felt the debate had been a draw, which helped narrow the polls to Governor Colby. With nine days till election day, the polls showed Dr Oxford with a 19% lead. Scandal Hits A scandal emerged through conservative media sites, first broken by an independent journalist and then made mainstream by Lynnx. Lynnx revealed that Dr Oxford had taken large sums of money for lobbying work for VENTRISS UDC and one other, unnamed corporation. The scandal, refuted by Dr Oxford, rocked the campaign and she suspended her campaign for a day to consult with her legal team. The Executive Committee met with the Attorney General of the League who stated that Dr Oxford couldn't technically withdraw as a candidate. Therefore her name would need to remain on the ballot. Two days after the scandal broke and the polls had almost been reversed and Governor Colby had a commanding 11% lead. The Result On election day Dr Oxford tried to put a brave face on it but the result was a landslide defeat for her and her cause. Governor Colby won with 52% of the vote. Dr Oxford got 39% of the vote with the rest being spoiled or given to write-in candidates. Dr Oxford graciously conceded the race and then began legal action for slander. President-elect Colby began to set up his transition. He asked sitting Secretary of State TH Sorrell to remain in post. The New Administration President Colby took up his office in February of 2325. He named veteran Senator Braer McQaid as his Secretary of Defence. President Colby's administration took to its main goal; reunification but during his term they were unable to achieve this, despite working hard towards it. President Colby's administration was able to codify new laws thanks to deals made with the AIS and the Progressive Union parties in the Senate. President Colby also oversaw a major refit of the League fleet. Previous election -2321 Special Election Next election -2330 League Presidential eleciton